Canada Oil

Canada gives the bid to export dirty tar sands oil to the US another PR shot following the collapse of the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that president Biden spiked on his first day in office.

The Canadian Energy Center, which the Edmonton Journal calls the energy “war room” of the province of Alberta, has launched a $240K digital billboard push in DC and New York to pitch Canada as a “better, close and friendlier” oil supplier compared to Russia and the Saudi Arabia.

The effort also includes a grassroots component that encourages America to lobbying Biden and lawmakers about the merits of importing oil from our north of the border ally and trading partner.

Tom Olson, CEO of the Centre, notes that though Keystone is dead for now, “there remains urgency in letting Americans know any further threatened sanctions in the US on pipelines by state governments and activist-led court challenges will be detrimental to American families struggling to get back on their feet from the economic impacts of COVID-19.”

The Centre says oil derived from tar sands is less dirty now than in past years. It claims oil-sands-produced greenhouse gas emissions went down 22 percent from 2011 to 2019.

Despite that improvement, renewable wind and solar power is the way to go for the US. We are happy that Canada is now wide open to Americans who want to visit and boost its economy.

Had it not been for the reputational stain that she earned during her service as head of Donald Trump’s COVID-19 task force, the recruitment of Deborah Birx for membership on its advisory board would have been a great “get” for BGR Group.

A client, though, may be hesitant to take counsel from Birx, who infamously remained mum while sitting near Trump as he spouted lunacies about ultraviolet lights and disinfectants being cures for COVID-19.

That made Birx social media roadkill and grist for late-night talk show hosts.

The Trump taint overshadows Birx’s more than 30 years of service to her country focused on clinical and basic immunology, vaccine research and global health.

She began serving her country as an Army colonel and running some of the most high-profile programs at the State Dept. and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Birx led one of first trials of the HIV vaccine in history that supported evidence of the potential effectiveness in preventing HIV infection.

Colonel Birx went on to serve as director of the CDC’s Division of Global HIV/AIDS and then the head of CDC’s Center of Global Health, where she had oversight of HIV/AIDS programs in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

Though the US Army and CDC granted Birx their highest honors for meritorious service, she will be remembered for not speaking out against Trump, a silence that may have resulted in unnecessary pandemic deaths.